Computer Speaker help

So after a decade of loyal service my Klipsch 4.1 system has given up the ghost. Looking about on the internet I see that Klipsch has mostly gotten out of the computer speaker business.

I loved this speaker system and see that on amazon I could replace it with a 2.1 system for 150 bucks but before I pull the trigger on that I am wondering if anyone has any recommendations for something that sounds decent in the $100 or less category.

Right now I am using a borrowed Logitech system. It. Is. Awful.

Creative has a pair of 2.0's that are very clean and clear, but they won't be as well rounded as the Klipsch set.

Really there just aren't any good options left. Most people that want nicer sound from their PC's at this point avoid actual PC speaker systems from the start.

All of Logitech's current systems are awful.

You won't find anything even remotely close to the Klipsch's for under $100. IMO, that Promedia 2.1 set is bargain basement minimum if you want decent audio out of a PC and you'd prefer to have a sub. I think there's speakers that put out cleaner audio but they're all 2.0 and will sound a little hollow/empty if you've been used to having a sub for years.

Thin_J wrote:

You won't find anything even remotely close to the Klipsch's for under $100. IMO, that Promedia 2.1 set is bargain basement minimum if you want decent audio out of a PC and you'd prefer to have a sub. I think there's speakers that put out cleaner audio but they're all 2.0 and will sound a little hollow/empty if you've been used to having a sub for years.

+1 to that.

Also, I'd look around for some used speakers as well, either locally through Craig's List, or an online used retailer you trust. High quality speakers can last quite some time if they haven't been abused, and the prices are generally awesome. Craig's List also has the "try before you buy" advantage.

Are 5.1 headphones an option?

garion333 wrote:

Are 5.1 headphones an option?

Eew.

Thin_J wrote:

Creative has a pair of 2.0's that are very clean and clear, but they won't be as well rounded as the Klipsch set.

Really there just aren't any good options left. Most people that want nicer sound from their PC's at this point avoid actual PC speaker systems from the start.

All of Logitech's current systems are awful.

You won't find anything even remotely close to the Klipsch's for under $100. IMO, that Promedia 2.1 set is bargain basement minimum if you want decent audio out of a PC and you'd prefer to have a sub. I think there's speakers that put out cleaner audio but they're all 2.0 and will sound a little hollow/empty if you've been used to having a sub for years.

Your post pretty much confirms what I suspected. Looks like I'll pull the trigger on the 2.1 Klipsch set. Here's to another decade.

Are 5.1 headphones an option?

No.

If you can find a used set, the Promedia 5.1s were actually okay, but Klipsch hasn't made them for years. Most computer speakers are terrible, and the 5.1s were at least competent. They wouldn't excite you, but they also wouldn't offend you, which is outstanding in that space. I assume the 2.1s will be similar; they look much the same. But I haven't heard them myself.

You can get VASTLY better sound if you just move up into 'real' stereo gear. You don't even have to spend all that much money, especially if you're willing to be patient and buy used. In exchange for shopping time, you'll get a MUCH better solution for a comparable expenditure.

You've already said no, but count me in as another who thinks that 5.1 headphones are gimmicky and ridiculous. You're better off with two really good drivers than 6 crappy ones.

My patience might be greater if I was replacing the Klipsch set with stereo gear but I'm not. Words can not describe how truly terrible these Logitechs sound.

I was really happy with my Kilipsch set so I think I am going to replace it with the 2.1 set. Thanks for your help everyone.

Agent 86 wrote:

My patience might be greater if I was replacing the Klipsch set with stereo gear but I'm not. Words can not describe how truly terrible these Logitechs sound.

I was really happy with my Kilipsch set so I think I am going to replace it with the 2.1 set. Thanks for your help everyone.

What kind of logitech set are they? I have a 2.1 set from logitech and I think they're amazing

http://www.logitech.com/speakers-audio/home-pc-speakers/devices/4251

This is the set, I am borrowing them from work. They are a spare set of speakers we had sitting at the office.

I've never, ever heard Logitech speakers that were even vaguely close to competent. They have been universally horrible, with muddy, boomy, MASSIVELY overdriven bass, weak mids, and harsh treble. They are the most consistently terrible speakers you can buy, in my experience. I've yet to hear a set that I thought did anything well.

edit: I haven't heard that set, Agent, but if they're like other Logitechs, they're designed with ridiculously overdriven bass, to make people with no experience with good speakers think they're getting good sound.

If you spend any time with something that's good, I bet you'll come to despise those. I base that opinion purely on the Logitech nameplate.

second edit: Ah, I'm confused between the two of you. I dunno what the set is that's claimed to be good, but color me completely unsurprised that the $30 Logitech speakers suck.

The 30$ ones probably do suck, I was talking about the Z-2300 speakers. I may have been able to get something better for the same price ($160 on sale), but I've got some poor spending habits I don't have a lot of experience with high quality speakers, but I do with high quality headphones, and in my opinion the Z-2300 has been worth every penny so far. Plus, I like dubstep

The 30 dollar Logitechs are what I've been using as a stop gap since my Klipsch 4.1 set died. I ordered the still available Klipsch 2.1 set today.

The sound on the $30 dollar Logitechs is pretty much what you would expect. Weak Bass, tinny highs, and distortion if you even glance at the volume knob.

edit: To be clear, I despise these Logitechs.

Malor wrote:

If you can find a used set, the Promedia 5.1s were actually okay, but Klipsch hasn't made them for years. Most computer speakers are terrible, and the 5.1s were at least competent. They wouldn't excite you, but they also wouldn't offend you, which is outstanding in that space. I assume the 2.1s will be similar; they look much the same. But I haven't heard them myself.

You can get VASTLY better sound if you just move up into 'real' stereo gear. You don't even have to spend all that much money, especially if you're willing to be patient and buy used. In exchange for shopping time, you'll get a MUCH better solution for a comparable expenditure.

You've already said no, but count me in as another who thinks that 5.1 headphones are gimmicky and ridiculous. You're better off with two really good drivers than 6 crappy ones.

Been looking to upgrade my PC speakers as well. I think just about anything would be better than the Sony 2.1 Wal-Mart specials I have now. The Klipsch looks interesting. But I would like to hear more recommendations along the stereo hardware lines. How are they superior to PC speakers? Any make/models you would recommend around the same price point?

Malor wrote:

If you can find a used set, the Promedia 5.1s were actually okay, but Klipsch hasn't made them for years. Most computer speakers are terrible, and the 5.1s were at least competent. They wouldn't excite you, but they also wouldn't offend you, which is outstanding in that space. I assume the 2.1s will be similar; they look much the same. But I haven't heard them myself.

You can get VASTLY better sound if you just move up into 'real' stereo gear. You don't even have to spend all that much money, especially if you're willing to be patient and buy used. In exchange for shopping time, you'll get a MUCH better solution for a comparable expenditure.

You've already said no, but count me in as another who thinks that 5.1 headphones are gimmicky and ridiculous. You're better off with two really good drivers than 6 crappy ones.

Been looking to upgrade my PC speakers as well. I think just about anything would be better than the Sony 2.1 Wal-Mart specials I have now. The Klipsch looks interesting. But I would like to hear more recommendations along the stereo hardware lines. How are they superior to PC speakers? Any make/models you would recommend around the same price point?

Heretk wrote:

But I would like to hear more recommendations along the stereo hardware lines. How are they superior to PC speakers? Any make/models you would recommend around the same price point?

How aren't they superior to PC speakers?

Even a cheap stereo receiver and a pair of mediocre bookshelf speakers is going to put anything Logitech has on the market to shame.

If you start talking entry level studio monitors and some other stuff the gap gets pretty ridiculous, especially considering that Logitech charges over $100 for some of the most garbage sets of standard 2.0 stereo speakers in existence.

Thin_J had a whole thread on shopping for 2.0 speakers for a PC not too long ago... you have the link handy, Thin_J?

Everything I looked at for that thread was either terrible or costs significantly more than the pricerange he's looking in really. He wants 2.1 and the only way to get anything in that thread a decent sub is to add another $150 or so on to it at minimum.

Just the BX5a monitors I bought cost $275ish after tax, and they were on sale. *Just looked, they're about $250 now.

The only way I'd be totally comfortable saying a sub isn't necessary for someone that's used to having one is going up to the BX8's, and those are over $400.

I will repeat here (I've said this many times) that a good audio purchase can last you for a LONG time. I'm pretty sure I bought my set of Energy Take 2s somewhere in the mid-90s. 15 years later, they sound just as good as they ever did, and I still use them almost every day.

They cost a fair bit, I think about $500 15 years ago (probably something like $800 or $900 today) but money you put into a good set of speakers can literally last for decades.

Buying genuinely good speakers, as long as you shop carefully and get a set that sound very good to you, can be extremely cost-efficient. And you don't have to spend a mint to get something that really sounds great.

I use the logitech Z5500s... the original speakers were terrible, but swapping them out for my lifelong loved KLH satellites and some Yamaha surrounds does take it up a notch. But yeah, I'd say pretty universally avoid logitech.

Personally, I've given up on speakers for my PC. Headphones are the way to go, IMO.

All this logitech flaming makes me feel bad

Schrensky wrote:

All this logitech flaming makes me feel bad :(

If you're happy with what you have then you're happy, and that's really all you should care about.

There was a time when I wouldn't have bothered paying any attention to the difference better speakers can make myself, and it wasn't necessarily all that long ago. What eventually got me was my headphone habit. The headphone rig I'd setup sounded so much better than my speakers that I kind of hated ever using them.

That led to a pair of M-Audio studio monitors and then later a 10" Dayton sub that complements the speakers pretty close to perfectly for my listening space.

I haven't had a major itch for speakers since. The headphone thing still pulls at me a little, but I don't think that's ever going to go away

How about the Creative T-3? It's going for roughly $150 right now on Amazon, half its usual price. I got it a while ago for around the same and have been really enjoying it. It does not feel like a downgrade from the Bose companion, which was the set I used to own.

A bit late to the show, but I'll chime in in case anyone else is interested.

I've been extremely happy with my Swan M200 MkII's for the past 6 months or so. Similar to Thin_J, I started looking for a higher quality alternative after getting used to some good headphones.

When looking for the set I eventually settled on (refurb by the way), the Swan M10 was right up there. It is a 3 piecer, though the larger speaker isn't quite a subwoofer by usual standards. Still, it looks like a great unit from what I can gather, Swan is fantastic from my experience so far, and the M10's are going for $125 now.

Alright guys... here's my conundrum.

We just moved into an apartment. I have a 40" LCD on the wall in front of my desk. I use it as a 2nd monitor on my laptop, and quite often just use the laptop to stream Netflix, Hulu, or ripped movies for our entertainment. We might plunk down for satellite or cable TV in the future though. I use it to game sometimes, but I like to use headphones for that usually.

I also have a Wii I use, and a Raspberry Pi, although that's sort of been relegated to a personal web server, not much else. I know it can stream HD videos, but it's not as easy as you'd think, and web browsing is slower than I'd like.

In any case, I've read a lot about how it's better to pick up bookshelf speakers than any type of PC speaker setup. Has anyone with some knowledge of this heard the Corsair SP2500?

My conundrum is that my TV has a 3.5mm jack out, so I can plug the SP2500 straight into that and have all audio into the TV passed to the speakers.

I'm hesitant of going the bookshelf speaker route, as that either means a small amp, or quite possibly a receiver, especially if I want a sub now or in the future. I've seen ones with HDMI in and out, that sounds helpful, but they're not cheap. They're also all sort of bulky, and I just have a desk.

Reviews for the SP2500's have been phenomenal. And not just from the PC sites that don't know what good sound sounds like. Specifically the Jonny Guru review seems to come from someone who knows his stuff, and said that in the ~$250 price point, it's a great purchase, even considering home theater equipment.

So, the question is, am I crazy for shooting for the Corsair speakers, or should I really suck it up and try and pick up some decent bookshelf speakers and a receiver? I'm hoping that a Black Friday deal might drop it down below $200. What do the sound gurus think?

You can get self-powered bookshelf speakers as well.

A set of M-Audio powered speakers would work well in any of the above situations and would provide much better results for about $100.

Symbiotic wrote:

A set of M-Audio powered speakers would work well in any of the above situations and would provide much better results for about $100.

I like the price. You believe it would sound better than the Corsairs though?

There are some sales on right now that might end up being better than the Corsair setup.

It would use a T-amp, but maybe that'll be fine.

Pioneer SP-BS41-LR - $90
Insignia Sub - $20
Cheapest T-amp at Parts-Express? - $35 with shipping

3.5mm split from TV to sub and amp

So, 3.5mm from TV (for laptop, Wii, etc.), 3.5mm to sub, and 3.5mm/RCA to t-amp to speakers.

Does that work?

Corsair isn't an audio company, M-Audio is. It depends what you're after though - great sound, or bumping bass and OK his and mids. If it were only for gaming, perhaps the Corsair would be better. But if music is a consideration, I would MUCH rather get a set of the M-Audio BX5a D2.